California’s Transportation Asset Management Plan is a new data-driven policy that will inform future investment decisions for maintaining California’s highway infrastructure today and into the future. The draft TAMP lays out substantial performance targets for California’s transportation system, but shows that California will be on track to meet those targets, thanks to the impact of anticipated funds from the Road Repair and Accountability Act (SB 1).

“The snapshot given in the TAMP shows what years of deferred maintenance and underfunding have done to California’s transportation infrastructure. Fortunately, the TAMP also illustrates that we can get our infrastructure system back on track thanks to the help of anticipated SB 1 funding,” said Malcolm Dougherty, Director, Caltrans.

The TAMP is the first integrated plan for California’s transportation system. The scope of the plan includes the assets on two overlapping highway systems: the State Highway System (SHS) and the National Highway System (NHS). The SHS includes 49,644 lane miles of pavement, 13,160 bridges, 205,000 culverts and drainage facilities, and 18,837 transportation management systems. The NHS in California consists of 56,075 lane miles of pavement and 10,825 bridges.

Goal-oriented investment choices are a key foundation of the TAMP. The document presents an inventory of CA’s transportation assets, details their current condition, and defines performance targets for the assets based on both federal and state requirements. From there, investment decisions take into consideration all the costs associated with those assets over the course of their life cycle.

SB 1 is providing California with a significant and consistent new funding source for transportation, investing $52.3 billion over the next decade. This additional investment is critical to attaining the ambitious performance targets mandated for the TAMP. California’s SHS and NHS assets will require substantial investment to achieve established State of Good Repair 10-Year Targets — and funding from SB1 will be instrumental in achieving these targets.

The TAMP shows stark differences in future highway conditions with and without SB 1 funding. The plan lays out several transportation funding scenarios, including funding levels prior to the passage of SB 1 and then the impact of SB 1 projected over the next 10 years. The projections demonstrate that, for many of the assets, SB 1 will almost double available funding levels. With SB 1 funding, California will be on track to achieve its high asset condition targets.

Expected Accomplishments of SB1: 10-Year Projections

  • SHS Bridges 98.5% Deck Area in Good or Fair Condition
  • SHS Pavements 98.0% Lane Miles in Good or Fair Condition
  • NHS Bridges 97.9% Deck Area in Good or Fair Condition
  • NHS Pavements 95.9% Lane Miles in Good or Fair Condition

Source: DOT Press Release